Diamondbacks DFA Josh Wilson
According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks have designated infielder Josh Wilson for assignment.
With regular shortstop Stephen Drew back to full health, Wilson was simply no longer needed. The 28-year-old hit .231/.333/.269 with two RBI and one run scored in 11 games for Arizona this season. He seems likely to end up back at the club's Triple-A affiliate in Reno, Nevada.
Diamondbacks Trade Candidates
The Diamondbacks are 13-21, already 9 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. They may be willing to trade several veteran players in the coming months; let's take a look.
- Eric Byrnes, OF - $8.7MM remaining in '09, $11MM in '10, no-trade protection. The 33 year-old outfielder is hitting .207/.257/.413 in 102 plate appearances on the season. Most teams probably view this as a $20MM commitment to a fourth outfielder, so the D'Backs would have to accept another bad contract in return to move Byrnes.
- Doug Davis, SP – $6.9MM remaining in '09. If you're wondering what type of pitchers might be available in July, Davis is a great example. The 33 year-old southpaw has a 3.25 ERA in 44.3 innings. He's improved his control, but is fortunate to have a .263 batting average on balls in play.
- Jon Garland, SP – $4.94MM remaining in '09, $10MM mutual option for '10 with a $2.5MM buyout if club declines or a $1MM buyout if Garland declines. If Garland is traded, his new club cannot offer him arbitration if he's a Type A free agent. The 29 year-old righty has a 5.18 ERA in 41.6 innings. His walk and strikeout rates have surprisingly moved in the wrong directions upon switching to the NL. He may be tougher to trade than Davis.
- Felipe Lopez, 2B – $2.77MM remaining in '09. Lopez picked up where he left off with the Cardinals – .328/.390/.504 in 146 plate appearances this year. He's even been above average defensively, according to UZR. Lopez is represented by Scott Boras and is only 29, so he's primed for a big free agent contract. He could be a useful addition for the White Sox or Twins.
- Chad Tracy, 1B – $3.75MM remaining in '09, $7MM option with a $1MM buyout for '10. Tracy is off to a slow start at .207/.239/.366 in 88 plate appearances.
- Scott Schoeneweis, RP - Mets paying $1.6MM of his $3.6MM '09 salary. He's done his job, holding lefties to a .182/.217/.318 line. He might make sense for the Cubs.
- Jon Rauch, RP – $1.58MM remaining in '09, $2.9MM club option for '10. Rauch has been terrible since joining the D'Backs last year – a 6.76 ERA in 37.3 innings.
- Tom Gordon, RP – $500K salary plus incentives. Flash, 41, is back on the DL with a hamstring injury.
- Role players Tony Clark and Augie Ojeda could also be made available.
Heyman On Teixeira, Melvin
A couple of hot stove highlights from Jon Heyman's latest…
- Heyman gives props to Rangers GM Jon Daniels for his Mark Teixeira haul from 2007: Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Beau Jones (the Rangers also gave up Ron Mahay). The Braves ended up acquiring Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek from the Angels for Tex and drafting lefty Brett DeVall as a compensation pick for Mahay. Heyman says Daniels also talked to the Red Sox, Angels, Yankees, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks about Teixeira at the '07 trade deadline.
- Bob Melvin knew for two days he was going to be fired before the D'Backs announced the move publicly. He handled the situation with class. Arizona brass considered John Farrell and Brett Butler before going with A.J. Hinch.
Rosenthal On Ortiz, Braves, White Sox
The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- Rosenthal notes how easy it would be for the Red Sox to find a left-handed hitter to top David Ortiz's 2009 production – many such bats are impending free agents and could be available in July. A shortstop and young catcher also remain on Boston's wish list. Unfortunately, with no-trade protection and about $22.5MM remaining on his contract, Ortiz is pretty much immovable.
- Former D'Backs pitching coach Bryan Price resigned in part due to reservations about working for new manager A.J. Hinch.
- Rosenthal notes the Braves' surplus of quality minor league arms, and suggests they're well-equipped to trade for a bat. The Braves rank 11th in the NL with 4.41 runs scored per game.
- The White Sox's rotation is looking a bit shaky given the ineffectiveness of Jose Contreras. Rosenthal says "the team eventually figures to be in the market for a starter." The Sox are hanging in there at 3.5 games out with a 14-17 record.
- Aside from Cliff Lee, Rosenthal believes Indians infielder Mark DeRosa could draw attention closer to the trade deadline.
Odds & Ends: Byrd, Fox, Kobayashi
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince says the Indians signed 31 year-old reliever Blaine Neal to a minor league deal. Here's a look at Neal's minor league work – nice job for the Tigers' Triple A club last year.
- Masahide Kobayashi explains why he's struggled in the U.S., talking to Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro wrote on Thursday that free agent pitcher Paul Byrd has a $3MM asking price.
- It might be time for Chad Fox to hang up the spikes. He owns a 3.79 ERA in 228 career innings. Would've been 3.45, without his Cubs career.
- Michael O'Keefe of the New York Daily News runs through the list of Scott Boras clients linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
- Rany Jazayerli likes Pedro Martinez as a comparable for Zack Greinke.
- A.J. Hinch's contract runs through 2012.
- RotoAuthority looks at the pitchers who have improved their walk rate the most this year.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo gives an overview of this year's draft.
- Current members of the Newark Bears: Rob Mackowiak, Keith Foulke, Shawn Chacon, Abraham Nunez, Carl Everett, Jay Gibbons, and Michael Tucker.
Heyman On Berkman, Oswalt, Cliff Lee
The latest rumors from SI.com's Jon Heyman…
- Astros owner Drayton McLane is unlikely to deal Roy Oswalt or Lance Berkman because of his "personal feelings for them plus the Astros' recent history of strong finishes."
- Cliff Lee is more likely to be traded. Heyman says Lee's value should be "fairly high even in a depressed market."
- D'Backs people wondered why players such as Carlos Quentin performed better after leaving the team and these doubts contributed to Bob Melvin's firing.
- Heyman also looks at some feel-good stories around the game.
Odds And Ends: Hinch, Manny, Longoria
Links for Friday…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes the D'Backs' new manager, A.J. Hinch, is a "strange choice" because he has no managerial or coaching experience.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff says signing Manny Ramirez was the best move the Mets never made.
- MLB.com's Doug Miller and Ken Gurnick sift through a year's worth of Ramirez-related drama.
- Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders if the Dodgers will have enough payroll flexibility to take on Jake Peavy's contract, now that Manny has been suspended without pay.
- Kirk Kenney of the Union-Tribune asks where Stephen Strasburg belongs in college baseball history.
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle has a plan to fix the Astros. He'd like to see them trade veterans like Jose Valverde and Carlos Lee and try to win with youth, even if it means losing first.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says the contrast between what the Yankees owe Alex Rodriguez and what the Rays owe Evan Longoria illustrates the difference between the AL East rivals.
- Buster Olney profiled Longoria for ESPN the Magazine.
- More sad news for baseball: Dom Dimaggio died this morning, as MLB.com's Bobbie Dittmeier reports.
Bob Melvin To Be Replaced With A.J. Hinch
11:04pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman says A.J. Hinch will move out of the front office to take over as the new D'Backs manager. He'll be introduced Friday. During his playing career, Hinch was a catcher for the A's, Royals, Tigers, and Phillies.
8:05pm: According to John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR, Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin will be replaced before Friday's game. The writing had been on the wall for a few days now. At 12-17, the D'Backs are already 9 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. SI.com's Jon Heyman says the D'Backs are staying in house, but it won't be Chip Hale, Kirk Gibson, or Brett Butler. He believes the new manager will come from the team's front office.
Odds & Ends: Qualls, Scheppers, Strasburg
Links for Wednesday…
- D'Backs closer Chad Qualls has MLBTR bookmarked…nice!
- In yesterday's post on Miguel Angel Sano, I linked to a three-minute video. It turns out that clip was a snippet of a documentary called Live to Play, Play to Live. A production company is following five players, including Sano, leading up to the July 2nd signing period.
- Baseball America's J.J. Cooper writes about the independent league season debuts of Tanner Scheppers and Aaron Crow. Scheppers is with the St. Paul Saints, who also employ Craig Brazell and Kerry Ligtenberg.
- Keith Law discusses Stephen Strasburg in this ESPN video. Law predicts Strasburg will sign for $18-20MM. Strasburg's coach Tony Gwynn advises caution for the Nationals if they draft him, in talking to Edward Lewis of the Daily Aztec.
- Former Yankees Dominican scouting director Ramon Valdivia filed a $3MM wrongful termination suit against the team, according to ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr.
- SI's Jon Heyman looks back at the incredible 2005 draft class.
Vazquez/Young Perception At The Time
ESPN's Rob Neyer recently posted a mailbag question about the Javier Vazquez–Chris Young trade between the White Sox and Diamondbacks. On December 14th, 2005, the White Sox sent Young and the unwanted salaries of Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino to Arizona for Vazquez and cash. Neyer's reader began his question with:
Kenny Williams was roundly criticized back in 2005 for trading highly regarded 5-tool uber-prospect Chris Young to D-backs for often underachieving Javier Vazquez.
Cue the sound of screeching brakes…was Williams really roundly criticized on December 14th, 2005? This is where the MLBTR archives come in handy. It's cool to see how we evaluated trades the day they were made. Here's the post. I liked the deal as a win-now move for the Sox. MLBTR was only a month and a half old, so the post only has 15 comments. But there was no criticism of Williams.
How about South Side Sox, which opened its doors in April of '05? They seemed in favor of the deal, as did Ken Rosenthal in an excerpt found here. Sox Machine also liked the trade, and both blogs noted that Vazquez was a bargain compared to A.J. Burnett's newly-signed five-year, $55MM deal. Let's get an opinion from the other side with AZ Snakepit, which also started in 2005. The post's author, Jim McLennan, was "both enthusiastic and somewhat concerned" about the trade.
It seems to me that this trade was mostly properly evaluated when it was made. The Sox would eventually miss Young, but not in 2006. I think Neyer's commenter's general point was that Young hasn't been quite as good as advertised, with a career OBP of .301 in two-plus seasons.